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MORAL  VIEW  OF  RAIL  ROADS. 

*"                                     A 

DISCOURSE, 

DELIVE 

RED    OS 

• 

SABBATH  MORNING,  FEBRUARY  23,  1851, 

ON  THE  OCCASION  OF  THE  OPENING 

OF    THE 

CLEVELAND  AND  COLUMBUS  RAIL  ROAD. 

BY  REV.  S.  0.  AIKEN,  D.  D., 

Pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church. 

CLEVELAND: 

STEAM    PRESS    OF    HARRIS,    FAIRBANKS    &    CO. 

1851. 

1 • . . . J 

f, 


MORAL  VIEW  OF  RAIL  ROADS, 


DISCOURSE, 


DELIVERED  ON 


SABBATH  MORNING,  FEBRUARY  23,  1851 


ox  THE  OCCASION  OF  THE  OPENING 


OF  THE 


CLE7ELAXP  AND  COLUMBUS  RAIL  ROAD. 


BY  REY.  S.  C.  AIKEN,  D.  D., 

Pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church. 


CLEVELAND: 

STEAM  PRESS  OF  HARRIS,  FAIRBANKS  &.  CO.,  HERALD  BUILDING. 

1851, 


3^5  imw^^ 

Columbus,  Feb.  24,  1851. 
Rev.  Dr.  Aiken, — 

Dear  Sir  :  The  undersigned  were  present  and  had  the  pleasure  of  hearing 
your  very  appropriate,  able,  and  eloquent  discourse,  in  the  First  Presbyte- 
rian Church,  in  the  city  of  Cleveland,  on  Sunday,  the  23d  inst.,  and  would 
most  earnestly  and  respectfully  request,  that  you  furnish  us  with  a  copy  fijr 
publication,  at  your  earliest  convenience. 

We  are,  Rev.  Sir.  with  great  consideration  and  respect, 

your  obedient  servants. 

R.  WOOD,  S.  MEDARY, 

CHARLES  C.  CONVERS,  EZRA  McKEE, 

JOHN  F.  MORSE.  PHILIP  MARCH, 

ALFRED  KELLEY,  JOHN"  A.  DODD, 

CYRUS  PRENTISS,  JAMES  RAYBURN, 

C.   ENGLISH,  H.  S.  BUNDY, 

WILLIAM  CASE,  WM.  MORGAN, 

H.  B.  PAYNE,  JNO.  D.  BURNETT, 

H.  VINAL,  JOHN  BENNETT, 

CHARLES  ANDERSON,  R.  B.  HARLAN, 

E.  R.  ECKLEY,  J.  J.  GAINES, 

SAM'L  WILLIAMSON,  JOS.  H.  GEIGER, 

G.  E.  PUGH,  J.  KILBOURN, 

JAMES  H.  HART,  M.  C.  BRADLEY, 

JOHN  M.  SMITH,  W.  H.  SNOOK, 

E.  GLASGO,  W.  HOWARD, 

GEO.  B.  MERWIN,  D.  LINTON, 

LEWIS  BROADWELL,  B.  RANDALL, 

L.  VAN  BUSKIRK,  H.  FERGUSON, 

JAMES  MYERS,  WM.   LAWRENCE. 
G.  W.  BARKER, 


Cleveland,  Feb.  28,  1851. 
To  His  Excellency,  Gov.  Wood  ;  Hon.  C.  C.  Coxvees,  Speaker  of  the  Senate, 
Hon.  J.  F.  Morse,  Speaker  of  the  House  ;  Hon.  Alfred  Kelley,  Pres.  of 
C.  C.  it  C.  R.  Road ;  Hon.  Cyrus  Prentiss,  Pres.  of  C.  &  P.  R.  Road ;. 
Hon.  C.  English,  Mayor  of  Columbus  ;  Hon.  William  Case,  Mayor  of 
Cleveland  ;  and  others. 

Gentlemen  :  The  discourse,  a  copy  of  which  you  do  me  the  honor 
to  solicit  for  publication,  was — as  the  critical  eye  will  readily  discover — 
prepared  with  great  haste,  and  without  a  thought  of  its  being  published. 

It  is  said,  that  circumstances  form  characters  ;  they  also  make  sermon-s. 
the  interest  and  value  of  which  depend  on  the  incidents  which  give  rise  tx) 
them.  To  this  class,  in  my  opinion,  belongs  this  discourse.  Confiding, 
however,  in  your  judgment  rather  than  in  my  own,  and  influenced  by  a  re- 
gard for  the  high  source,  whence  the  request  emanates  ;  a  copy  is  herewith 
submitted  to  your  disposal. 

I  am,  Gentlemen,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

S.  C.  AIKEN.       ■ 


^ 


^■■^-vo- 


-^/f^./ 


A  DISCOURSE. 


NAHAM  II.  4: 

The  chariots  shall  rage  in  the  Streets:  they  shall  justle  one  against 
another  in  the  broad  ways  :  they  shall  seem  like  torches,  they  shall 
eun  like  the  lightnings. 

On  reading  this  verse,  one  might  naturally  suppose 
that  the  prophet  lived  in  the  days  of  Rail  Roads 
and  Locomotives :  But  it  was  not  so.  His  chariots 
of  lightning  were  chariots  of  War — armed  and 
sent  forth  by  the  King  of  Babylon,  to  effect  the 
conquest  and  ruin  of  the  city  of  Nineveh.  From 
the  passage  however,  I  shall  take  occasion  to  speak, 
not  of  war,  which  has  proved  such  a  curse  to  the 
world,  and  yet,  has  often  been  over-ruled  for  good : 
but  of  the  developement  and  progress  of  a  new 
power,  which,  we  trust,  is  destined  to  supercede 
war  and  to  introduce  into  our  world,  a  new  order 
of  things,  which  seems  to  betoken  the  rapid  fulfil- 
ment of  prophecy :  "  Behold,  I  create  new  Heavens 
and  a  new  earth :  and  the  former  shall  not  be  re- 
membered, nor  come  into  mind :  —  In  the  wilderness 
shall  waters  break  out  and  streams  in  the  desert — 
and  a  highway  shall  be  there,  and  a  way,  and  it 
shall  be  called,  The  way  of  Holiness." 


8 

This  prophecy  reminds  me  of  an  occasion  similar 
to  the  one,  that  has  called  so  many  strangers  to  our 
city :  —  when,  on  the  opening  of  the  Erie  Canal,  it 
was  my  privilege,  on  the  Lord's-Day,  to  address  De 
Witt  Clinton,  and  the  Commissioners,  in  grateful 
recognition  of  the  benificent  Providence,  which  had 
carried  them  on  to  the  completion  of  a  work, 
deemed  chimerical  by  some  and  impolitic  by  others: 
but  which  has  proved  a  high-way  for  commerce, 
and  made  many  a  wilderness  and  solitary  place  to 
blossom  as  the  rose. 

In  a  moral  and  religious  point  of  view,  as  well  as 
social  and  commercial,  to  me,  there  is  something 
interesting,  solemn,  and  grand  in  the  opening  of  a 
great  thoroughfare.  There  is  sublimity  about  it — 
indicating  not  only  march  of  mind  and  a  higher 
type  of  society,  but  the  evolution  of  divine  pm'po- 
ses,  infinite,  eternal — connecting  social  revolutions 
with  the  progress  of  Christianity  and  the  coming 
reign  of  Christ. 

To  overlook  such  an  event — to  view  it  only  in  its 
earthly  relations,  would  be  to  overlook  a  movement 
of  Pro\adence,  bearing  directly  upon  the  great  in- 
terests of  morality  and  religion — the  weal  or  woe 
of  our  country,  and  of  unborn  millions.  It  is  the 
duty  of  Christians,  and  especially  of  Christian  min- 
isters, to  watch  the  signs  of  the  times — to  see  God^ 
and  lead  the  people  to  see  Him,  in  all  the  affairs  of 
the  world,  whether  commercial,  political  or  religious,, 


in  the  varied  aspects,  in  wMdi  He  is  presented  to 
our  view  in  His  word. 

The  history  of  roads  is  one  of  the  best  commen- 
taries upon  the  intellectual  and  social  state  of  soci- 
ety. Of  course,  it  will  not  become  the  time  and 
place,  to  go  into  it  any  further  than  is  needful  as 
preliminary  to  my  subject. 

A  road  is  a  symbol  of  civilization — the  want  of 
it,  a  symbol  of  barbarism.  By  its  condition  we 
may  ascertain,  with  considerable  accuracy,  the  de- 
gree of  the  one  or  of  the  other.  "Let  us  travel," 
says  the  Abbe  Raynal,  "over  all  the  countries  of  the 
earth,  and  wherever  we  shall  find  no  facilities  of 
traveling  from  city  to  town,  and  from  a  village  to  a 
hamlet,  we  may  pronounce  the  people  to  be  barbar- 
ous." The  government  is  weak  —  the  inhabitants 
poor  and  ignorant.  The  road,  then,  is  a  physical 
index  of  the  condition  and  character  of  any  age  or 
nation.  Viewed  from  this  stand-point,  its  history 
may  correct  one  of  our  errors,  and  lead  us  to  see, 
that  we  are  not  quite  so  far  in  advance  of  antiquity, 
as  we  are  apt  to  imagine. 

If  we  look  back  to  the  earliest  period  of  the 
world,  of  which  we  have  any  record,  we  find  that 
roads  were  the  dividing  line  between  civilization 
and  barbarism.  The  first  country,  of  which  we  have 
any  definite  knowledge,  distinguished  for  the  arts 
and  sciences,  was  Egypt.  Could  We  read  its  lost 
history,  we  should  see  that  under  the  reign  of  its 


10 

Pharaohs,  it  rose  to  a  pitch  of  civilization  and  gran- 
deur of  which,  probably,  we  have  no  conception. 
This  fact  is  indicated  by  its  pyramids  and  magnifi- 
cent remains,  wliich  clearly  show  its  former  glory. 
If  Thebes  had  its  hundred  gates,  it  is  likely,  that  it 
had  also  its  paved  and  spacious  avenues  leading 
from  it  into  every  part  of  the  kingdom,  on  which 
the  chariots  of  its  kings  and  nobles  rolled  in  splen- 
dor. 

Nor  was  the  Jewish  commonwealth  without  its 
roads,  constructed  in  the  most  durable  manner,  un- 
der tlie  rei2:n  of  Solomon.  Those  leading  to  and 
from  the  cities  of  refuge,  have  probably  never  been 
excelled.  But  in  the  uncivilized  surrounding  na- 
tions, we  hear  nothing  of  roads. 

Mark  also  the  Roman  empire  at  the  period  of  its 
highest  prosperity  and  grandeur.  The  famous  "iVp- 
pian  Way,"  celebrated  by  Horace,  built  three  hun- 
dred years  before  Christ,  remains  of  which  are  still 
visible  after  the  lapse  of  more  than  twenty  centu- 
ries, is  familiar  to  every  reader  of  history.  Two- 
thirds  of  it,  from  Capua  to  Brundusium,  were  built 
by  Julius  Caesar  —  and  formed  one  of  the  most 
splendid  memorials  of  that  Emperor's  reign.  Its 
entire  length  was  nearly  four  hundred  miles  — 
graded  so  far  as  practicable  to  a  level  —  paved 
with  hewn  stone  in  the  form  of  hexagonal  blocks, 
laid  in  durable  cement  —  with  a  surface  spacious 
and  smooth.     Besides  this,  there  were  other  roads. 


11 

constructed  by  different  emperors,  sucli  as  the  Sa- 
lernian,  Flaminian,  Ostian,  and  Triumphal,  leading 
from  the  capital — one  of  which  extended  fom' 
thousand  miles,  from  Antioch  on  the  north,  to 
Scotland  on  the  south — at  one  place  tunneling  a 
mountain  of  rock,*  at  another,  stretching  over  ra- 
vines and  rivers  by  bridges  and  aqueducts,  inter- 
rupted only  by  the  English  channel  and  the  Hel- 
lespont. 

Nor  were  the  Romans  so  greatly  behind  us  as 
to  speed.  History  records  the  fact,  that  "one  Cesa- 
rius  went  post  from  Antioch  to  Constantinople  — 
six  hundred  and  sixty-five  miles — in  less  than  six 
days.  The  modern  traveler  in  his  rail-car  smiles  at 
the  statement ;  but  he  forgets,  that  the  Roman  horse 
was  neither  fire  nor  steam,  and  that  he  is  indebted 
for  his  speed  to  the  discovery  of  a  new  and  won- 
derful power  of  which  the  ancients  knew  nothing. 

Now  turn  and  consider  the  old  Saxons.  Look  at 
the  Feudal  ageof  comparative  barbarism,  when  each 
community  or  county  had  its  Baron  and  castle,  built 
upon  inaccessible  rocks ;  —  when  the  people  dwelt 
in  walled  cities,  with  sentinels  upon  the  towers ;  — 
when  there  were  no  roads — no  wheeled  vehicles, 
except  a  few,  and  those  of  the  most  cumbersome 
kind; — when  the  mode  of  travel  was  on  foot  or 
horseback,  through  fields  and  streams  and  forests. 

*  Tlie  under  ground  tunnel  of  Pozzuoli,  near  Naples,  is  said  to  have  been 
half  a  league,  or,  in  American  measure,  one  mile  and  a  half.  The  passage 
was  cut  through  sohd  rock  fifteen  feet  square. 


12 

Then  it  was,  tliat  the  arts,  sciences,  and  religion 
were  at  a  dead  stand.  There  were  no  ducts  for 
commerce — no  life  or  motion.  Day  and  night,  the 
peojDle  lived  in  fear  of  robbers,  and  their  only  hope 
of  safety  lay  in  having  no  intercourse  with  one  an" 
other,  nor  with  distant  neighborhoods  and  provin- 
ces. So  it  has  always  been.  So  it  is  now.  Point 
me  to  a  country  where  there  are  no  roads,  and  I  will 
point  you  to  one  where  all  things  are  stagnant — 
where  there  is  no  commerce  except  on  a  limited 
scale — no  religion,  except  a  dead  formality — no 
learning,  except  the  scholastic  and  unprofitable.  A 
road  is  a  sign  of  motion  and  progress  —  a  sign  the 
people  are  living  and  not  dead.  If  there  is  inter- 
course, social  or  commercial,  there  is  activity ;  "  ad- 
vancement is  going  on — new  ideas  and  hopes  are 
rising.  All  creative  action,  whether  in  government, 
industry,  thought,  or  religion,  creates  roads,"  and 
roads  create  action. 

To  an  inquisitive  mind,  it  is  extremely  interesting 
and  instructive  to  mark  the  progress  of  mechanical 
invention.  To  one  accustomed  to  trace  effects  to 
their  causes,  it  is  more  than  interesting.  He  sees 
something  besides  human  agency  at  work  in  the 
provision  of  materials — in  the  adaptation  of  means 
to  ends — in  the  wisdom,  order,  and  regularity  of 
general  laws,  which  the  practical  mechanic  has  learnt 
to  accommodate  to  his  own  purposes.  But  he  is  not 
the  oi'iginator  of  those  laws,  nor  of  the  materials  on 
which  he  operates.     He  has  discovered  that  certain 


13 

agents  will  serve  particular  ends.  Of  these  agents 
he  skillfully  avails  himself,  and  the  result  he  aimed 
at  is  produced. 

The  elements  of  water-power  have  been  in  exist- 
ence since  the  world  was  made ;  and  yet,  there 
doubtless  was  a  time  when  there  was  no  water- 
wheel  apphed  to  a  dashing  current,  to  propel  ma- 
chinery. Why  did  not  the  human  mind  grasp  at 
once  the  simple  law,  and  dispense  with  animal 
power  to  grind  meal  for  daily  bread?  On  the 
principles  of  philosophy,  this  question  is  not  so 
easily  answered.  To  say  that  mind  is  slow  in  its 
develoj^ement,  does  not  solve  the  difficulty.  From 
the  earliest  ages,  it  has  accomplished  wonders  in 
the  arts.  It  has  built  cities  and  pyramids — aque- 
ducts and  canals  —  calculated  eclipses  and  estab- 
lished great  principles  in  science. 

The  truth  is,  there  is  a  providence  in  mechanical 
invention  as  well  as  in  all  the  aftairs  of  men.  And 
when  God  has  purposes  to  accomplish  by  this  in- 
vention, he  arouses  some  active  spirit  to  search  for 
'  the  laws  already  in  existence,  and  to  arrange  the 
materials  with  reference  to  the  end. 

In  past  ages,  for  all  practical  purposes,  the  world 
has  done  well  enough  with  the  mechanical  powers 
it  possessed.  The  water-wheel  has  moved  the  ma- 
chinery attached  to  it.  The  stage-coach  has  trun- 
dled its  passengers  along,  contented  and  happy  with 
the  slow  pace,  though  not  always  convenient  or 


14 

comfortable,  because  they  had.  no  better  mode  of 
conveyance.  The  merchant  has  cheerfully  commit- 
ted his  goods  to  the  sail  boat,  because  he  knew  of 
no  more  powerful  agent  than  the  winds.  But  the 
human  mind  has  received  a  new  impulse.  It  is  waked 
up  to  unwonted  energy.  It  is  filled  with  the  great 
idea  of  progress.  It  is  leaving  the  things  that  are 
behind,  and  pressing  onward. 

Nothing  has  contributed  more  to  wake  up  the 
mind  fi"om  its  sleep  of  ages  —  to  draw  out  its  pow- 
ers and  to  set  it  on  the  track  of  discoveiy,  than  the 
invention  of  the  steam  enoine.  This  event  occm'red 
about  eighty  years  since,  and  the  name  of  the  invent- 
or is  inscribed  on  the  talilet  of  immortality.  It  was 
no  freak  of  chance — no  random  thouo'ht  of  thehu- 
man  intellect,  unaided  by  that  Infinite  Intelligence, 
at  whose  disposal  is  all  matter  and  mind ;  and  who, 
in  his  own  time  and  way,  makes  them  subserve  his 
own  purposes.  Was  Bezaleel  raised  up  by  God  and 
filled  with  wisdom  "to  devise  cunnino-  work — to 
work  m  gold  and  silver  and  brass '' — to  aid  Moses  in 
building  the  tabernacle  ?  "Was  Hiram  afterward  en- 
dowed with  great  mechanical  skill  in  the  erection  of 
Solomon's  temple  ?  So  was  Watt.  God  raised  him 
up  to  invent  the  steam-engine;  and,  when  "he  gave 
it  to  mankind  in  the  form  in  which  it  is  now  em- 
ployed for  countless  uses,  it  was  as  if  God  had  sent 
into  the  world  a  legion  of  strong  angels  to  toil  for 


15 

man  in  a  thousand  forms  of  clrudgeiy,  and  to  accom- 
plish for  man  a  thousand  achievements  which  human 
hands  could  never  have  accomj)hshed,  even  with  the 
aid  of  such  powers  of  nature  as  were  previously 
known  and  mastered.  The  earth  with  the  steam- 
engine  in  it,  and  \\dth  all  the  capabilities  which  be- 
long to  that  mighty  instrument  for  aiding  the  indus- 
try and  multipl}^mg  the  comforts  of  mankmd,  is  a 
new  eaith, —  far  better  fitted  in  its  physical  arrange- 
ments for  the  miiversal  establishment  of  the  kingdom 
of  Christ,  or  in  other  words,  for  the  universal  prev- 
alence of  knowledge,  liberty,  righteousness,  peace, 
and  salvation." 

The  apphcation  of  steam,  as  a  mechanical  power, 
to  locomotion  on  land  and  M'^ater,  forms  a  new  era  in 
invention,  and  in  the  history  of  the  world.  Twenty 
years  ago,  the  first  successful  experiment  with  the 
locomotive,  was  made  between  Liverpool  and  Man- 
chester. Now,  we  can  hardly  compute  the  number 
of  railways.  Forty-three  years  ago  the  Hudson  was 
first  successfully  navigated  by  a  steamer.  In  the 
summer  of  1838  the  Atlantic  ocean  was  crossed  for 
the  first  time  by  vessels  exclusively  propelled  by 
steam  power.  Now  look  at  the  progress.  The 
steamer  ploughs  our  navigable  rivers  —  our  great 
lakes  —  our  coasts ;  —  and  asserts  its  supremacy  over 
all  other  craft,  fi'om  the  Pacific  to  the  Atlantic,  and 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Indian  ocean.     The  changes 


16 

in  the  moral  and  physical  condition  of  our  world,  by 
means  of  this  wonderful  agency,  are  what  no  one  can 
witness,  without  mingled  emotions  of  admiration  and 
wonder.  That  the  hand  of  the  Almighty  is  in  it ; 
that  he  has  some  good  and  grand  design  to  accom- 
plish through  its  instrumentahty,  must  be  evident  to 
all  who  beheve  Him  to  be  the  moral  Governor  of 
the  world.  AVere  a  new  planet  to  start  into  exist- 
ence, I  should  as  soon  think  it  the  result  of  a  fortu- 
itous conglomeration  of  atoms,  as  to  disconnect  the 
present  revolutions  by  steam,  from  the  wisdom  and 
power  of  God. 

Some  good  people,  I  am  aware,  look  with  a  suspi- 
cious eye  upon  the  iron-liorse.  They  fancy  there  is 
a  gloomy  destiny  in  it —  a  power  to  subvert  old  and 
estabhshed  customs ; — to  change  the  laws  and  ordi- 
nances of  God  and  man;  —  to  introduce  moral  and 
poKtical  anarchy,  ignorance  and  impiety,  and  to  make 
our  degenerate  race  more  degenerate  still. 

Now,  I  am  not  troubled  with  such  spectres.  I 
look  for  evils  to  be  multiphed  with  the  increase  of 
travel.  But  order  will  reim  —  law  will  reisrn — re- 
hgion  will  reign,  because  there  will  be  an  increase 
also  of  counteracting  agents.  If  the  effect  should 
be  the  increase  of  wealth  only,  we  might  well  pre- 
predict  fearful  consequences.  To  look  upon  the  rail- 
road simply  as  an  auxiliary  to  commerce  —  as  a  great 
mint  for  coining  money ;  is  to  take  but  a  superficial 


17 

and  contracted  view  of  it.  If  we  would  contemplate 
it  in  all  its  bearings,  we  must  consider  it  as  a  new 
and  vast  power,  intended  by  Providence  to  act  upon 
reKgion  and  education — upon  tlie  civilization  and 
character  of  a  nation  in  all  the  complicated  interests 
of  its  social  organism.  This  is  a  great  subject,  and 
while  I  have  neither  time  nor  abihty  to  do  it  justice, 
I  can  see  in  it  matter  that  may  well  employ,  and  wiU 
yet  employ  the  best  heads~and  hearts  which  God  has 
bestowed  on  mortals.  Without  anticipating  evils, 
there  are  certain  benefits  to  follow,  which  will  prove " 
more  than  an  antidote.     To  name  a  few. 

The  increase  of  commerce  and  wealth  is  a  consid- 
eration which  I  leave  to  the  political  economist.  In 
no  country  should  they  be  overlooked,  much  less  in 
our  own.  Wealth  is  power,  and  when  properly  used, 
is  a  source  of  unspeakable  good. 

As  to  commerce,  there  are  two  aspects — aside 
from  its  bearing  on  wealth — in  which  I  love  to  con- 
template its  coimection  with  the  rail-road. 

One  is,  as  a  preventive  of  war.  TLis  remark  ap- 
plies more  to  commerce  as  now  conducted  by  steam 
on  the  ocean.  It  is  bringing  the  nations  together, 
and  making  tliem  feel  the  sympathetic  throbbings  of 
one  family  heart — of  one  great  brotherhood.  Would 
the  idea  of  a  World's  Fair  have  been  conceived,  had 
it  not  been  for  steam  navigation  ?     It  was  a  noble 


18 

thouglit !  Let  tlie  people  of  every  tongue,  and  kin" 
dred,  and  nation  from  under  heaven  assemble.  Let 
them  gather  under  the  same  magnificent  crystal  pal- 
ace, and  through  its  transparent  dome,  raise  their 
eyes  to  the  same  God,  and  feel  that  he  has  made 
them  all  of  one  blood,  and  united  them,  by  one  com- 
mon tie  of  interest  and  affection,  to  the  same  father 
and  to  one  another  ;  and  we  may  expect  to  hear  that 
a  motion  has  been  made  and  carried  by  acclamation, 
to  "beat  their  swords  into  plough-shares  and  their 
spears  into  pruning  hooks  " 

The  other  view  of  steam-commerce  is,  its  tendency 
to  unite  more  closely  the  states — bringing  them  into 
more  intimate  relations,  and  subjecting  them  to  the 
influence  of  mutual  intercourse. 

Owing  to  emigration,  we  are  becoming  a  hetero- 
geneous people  —  unhke  in  habits,  language  and 
religion,  and  scattered  over  a  vast  territory,  from 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  How  States,  formed  out 
of  such  a  population,  thus  widely  dispersed,  can  be 
held  together  and  consolidated,  is  a  question  vitaUy 
interesting  and  important.  One  thing  is  certain ; 
it  cannot  be  done  by  law,  nor  by  military  power 
alone.  Sectional  interests  and  jealousies  will  spring 
up  against  which  the  Constitution  and  brute  force 
will  form  no  barrier.  Under  circumstances  so  un- 
precedented in  the  history  of  nations,  our  only 


19 

hope,  it  seems  to  me,  lies  in  tlie  general  diffusion  of 
religion  and  education,  and  in  tlie  kind  and  frequent 
intercourse  which  the  rail-way  is  calculated  to  j)ro- 
mote, —  bringing  distant  portions  of  the  country 
into  the  relation  of  neighborhoods,  and  thus  remov- 
ing sectional  jealousies  and  animosities,  and  inspir- 
ing mutual  confidence  and  affection.  It  is  for  this 
reason,  as  well  as  others,  I  rejoice  in  the  construction 
of  a  rail-road,  connecting,  us  I  may  say,  with  the 
Southern  States.  The  influence,  according  to  all 
the  laws  of  our  social  being,  cannot  fail  to  be  peace- 
ful and  happy.  On  a  little  better  acquaintance,  our 
brethren  of  the  South  will  feel  more  kindly  towards 
us,  and  we  towards  them ;  and,  possibly,  some  mis- 
takes and  misapprehensions,  on  both  sides,  will  be 
corrected  and  removed.  By  means  of  recent  inter- 
course with  foreigners,  the  Chinese  begin  to  think  it 
doubtful  whether  the  earth  is  a  plane,  and  they  in 
the  centre  of  it,  and  all  upon  the  outside  barbarians. 
By  a  law  of  our  nature,  minds  in  contact  assimilate, 
and,  for  this  reason,  we  hope  to  see  good  result  from 
the  intermingling  of  the  North  with  the  South ; 
and,  could  a  rail-road  be  extended  to  the  Pacific,  it 
would  do  more  to  promote  union  in  the  States — to 
circulate  kind  feelings — to  establish  our  institution* 
in  California,  Oregon,  Utah,  and  New  Mexico,  and  to 
consolidate  our  glorious  confederacy,  than  all  the  leg- 
islation of  Congress  from  now  until  doomsday.    A 


20 

new  and  vast  trade  would  at  once  spring  np  be- 
tween tlie  parent  States  and  those  more  recently 
formed,  also  with  the  numerous  islands  of  the  Paci- 
fic, and  with  the  populous  regions  of  eastern  Asia, 
In  its  tendency  all  legitimate  commerce  is  peaceful 
and  happy,  because  its  benefits  are  mutual  and  recip- 
rocal. Every  new  rail-way,  therefore,  constructed 
in  our  country,  is  another  link  in  a  chain  of  iron, 
binding  the  States  together. 

Another  benefit.  In  one  respect,  the  rail-road  is 
a  leveler,  but  it  levels  up,  not  down.  Its  tendency 
is  to  place  the  poor  on  a  level  with  the  rich,  not  by 
abolishing  the  distinction  of  property  —  it  is  no  so- 
cialist—  not  by  dej^ressing  the  rich,  but  by  elevating 
all  to  the  enjoyment  of  equal  advantages.  It  is  hke 
the  Press.  Before  the  art  of  printing,  the  poor  had 
no  books.  Now,  the  possession  of  books  is  no  very 
distinctive  mark  of  wealth.  Manufactories  are  lev- 
eling in  the  same  way,  by  bringing  to  the  firesides 
and  wardrobes  of  the  poor,  articles  of  comfort  and 
luxury,  which  once  were  attainable  only  by  the  rich. 
So  with  the  rail-way.  The  poor  can  travel  with  as 
much  ease, rapidity  and  cheapness  as  the  rich.  They 
are  not  doomed,  as  formerly,  to  spend  life  within 
the  limits  of  a  parish  or  a  city  ;  but,  can  take  their 
seat  beside  the  millionaire,  breathe  the  pure  air  of 
the  country,  recreate  and  recruit  health  and  spirits 


21 

in  its  vallies  and  on  its  mountain  tops.     But  tliere 
are  other  advantages  still  greater. 

One  is  tlie  general  diffusion  of  education.  "  ]\Iany 
shall  run  to  and  fro,  and  knowledge  shall  be  in- 
creased." The  motion  of  the  body  quickens  the  mind. 
The  rapid  passing  of  objects — the  active  interchange 
of  commodities  in  commercial  intercourse,  is  attended 
with  the  interchange  of  ideas.  Then,  possibly,  such 
active  intercourse  may  be  unfavorable  to  education. 
In  a  passion  for  travel,  there  is  danger  of  cultivating 
the  senses  more  than  the  intellect.  Should  knowledge 
degenerate  into  mere  sight-seeing  and  become  super- 
ficial, the  effect  will  be  deplorable.  But  as  an  offset 
to  this  evil,  which  we  hardly  anticipate,  we  see  eve- 
rywhere the  multiplication  of  schools  and  a  disposi- 
tion in  the  people,  and  especially  in  our  rulers,  to 
patronise  and  encourage  education.  Hapj^ily  for  the 
world,  rulers  are  beginning  to  see,  that  they  are  in- 
vested with  power  not  for  themselves,  but  for  the 
people ;  that  the  interest  of  one  is  the  interest  of 
both ;  and,  that  in  shaping  their  policy  so  as  to  ad- 
vance general  knowledge,  industry,  equal  rights  and 
privileges ;  they  are  la^ang  a  broad  foundation  in 
the  intelligence  and  affection  of  the  masses  for  per- 
manent peace  and  prosperity.  In  political  science, 
this  is  a  great  advance  from  the  old  gothic  notion 
that  God  made  the  people  for  the  king  and  the  king 
for  himself.    This  branch  of  my  subject  I  cannot 


22 

close  better,  tlian  in  the  words  of  an  eloquent  wri- 
ter. Speaking  of  govei'nments,  lie  says : — "  Having 
it  for  their  problem  to  make  every  man  as  valuable  as 
possible  to  himself  and  to  his  country,  and  becom- 
ing more  and  more  inspired,  as  wc  may  hope,  by  an 
aim  so  lofty,  every  means  will  be  used  to  diffuse  edu- 
cation, to  fortify  morals  and  favor  the  holy  power  of 
religion.  This  being  done,  there  is  no  longer  any 
danger  fi'om  travel.  On  the  contrary,  the  masses  of 
society,  will,  by  this  means,  be  set  forward  con- 
tinually in  character  and  intelligence.  As  they  run, 
knowledge  will  be  increased.  The  roads  will 
themselves  be  schools,  for  here  they  will  see  the 
great  world  movin?,and  feel  themselves  to  be  a  part 
of  it.  Their  narrow,  local  prejudices  will  be  worn 
off,  their  superstitions  forgotten.  Every  people  will 
begin  to  understand  and  appreciate  every  other,  and 
a  common  light  be  kindled  in  all  bosoms." 

The  effects  to  result  from  the  great  facilities  for 
travel  in  re^rard  to  the  g-eneral  interests  of  relioj-ion 
is  another  subject  on  which  a  large  portion  of  com- 
munity feel  a  deep  interest.  And  well  we  may. 
Whatever  tends  to  loosen  the  bonds  that  bind  us  to 
our  Maker,  tends  also  to  loosen  the  bonds  that  bind 
society  together — to  uproot  law  and  order — to  in- 
troduce anarchy  and  misrule,  guilt  and  wi'etchedness. 

There  is  one  ffict,  however,  which  encourages  us  to 
hope  that  the  influence  of  railways  will  be  favorable 


23 

to  religion.  As  I  have  already  said,  tliey  mark  a 
new  era  in  the  world.  They  are  destined  to  effect  a 
great  revolution  in  all  the  departments  of  society. 
Now,  if  we  look  back  on  the  past  half  century,  we 
see  nothing  but  a  succession  of  revolutions  in  gov. 
ernment — in  the  arts  and  sciences  —  in  the  condi- 
tions of  political  and  social  life ;  and  yet,  where  is 
there  one  that  has  not  immediately  or  remotely  fav- 
ored the  extension  of  Christianity  —  given  prosperity 
and  power  to  evangehcal  truth,  and  caused  the  heart 
of  christian  philanthropy  to  beat  more  intensely  for 
the  happiness  of  universal  being  ?  On  that  one,  I  can- 
not place  my  eye.  It  is  not  in  memory.  It  is  not 
on  record.  Wrongs  deep  and  di'eadful  there  have 
been,  and  are  stiU ;  but  every  attempt  to  perpetuate 
them — as  is  obvious  to  the  nice  observer  — is  work- 
ing out,  slowly  it  may  be,  but  surely,  their  removal. 

When  rail-roads  were  first  projected,  it  was  pre- 
dicted, and  not  without  some  reason,  that  they  would 
demolish  the  christian  Sabbath.  But  what  has  been 
the  result  ?  So  far  as  ascertained,  I  confess  I  see  no 
occasion  for  alarm.  True,  this  sacred  season  of  rest, 
given  to  man  by  his  Creator,  and  which  his  physical 
nature  imperiously  demands  —  being  able,  as  has 
often  been  demonstrated,  to  do  more  labor  with  it 
than  without  it — is  shamefully  desecrated  by  steam- 
ers, rail-cars  and  other  modes  of  conveyance.     But, 


24 

so  far  as  rail-roads  are  concerned,  experience  both  in 
this  country  and  in  England  is  gradually  deciding 
in  favor  of  remembering  the  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it 
holy.     If  correctly   informed,  several  lines  are  al- 
ready discontinued  and  others  will  be.     Wherever 
the  voice  of  community  favors  it.  Directors  are  not 
backward  to  let  their  men  and  enginery  remain  quiet 
on  this  day ;  for  it  is  found  that  nothing  is  gained 
and  much  lost  by  running.    Ail  the  business  can  be 
done  in  six  days  of  the  week ;  while,  not  only  one- 
seventh  part  of  the  expense  is  saved,  but  the  hands 
employed  are  refreshed  and  in\agorated  by  rest,  and 
better    prepared   with   safety   and    fidehty  to  dis- 
charge their  duty.     Thus  the  evil  is  working  out  its 
o\^Ti  remedy.     The  trath  is,  the  law  of  the  Sabbath 
is  written,  not  only  in  the  Bible,  but  upon  the  con- 
stitution of  man ;  and  such  are  the  arrangements  of 
Providence  that  it  cannot  be  violated  without  incur- 
ring loss.     The  penalty  will  follow,  and  if  religion 
does  not  enforce  obedience,  self-interest  will.    All 
that  is  necessary  is,  to  direct  the  attention  of  con- 
siderate men  to  the  subject,  and  leave  it  with  con- 
science and  common  sense  to  decide.     This  done,  I 
have  no  fears  of  the  result. 

Another  thing.  When  a  railway  is  managed  as 
it  should  be,  and  as  I  coniidently  beheve  ours  will 
be,  it  is  found  to  be  an  important  auxiliary  to  the 


25 

cause  of  temperance.  In  a  concern  invohnng  so 
great  an  amount  of  life  and  property,  it  is  worse 
than  folly  to  employ  men  wlio  are  not  strictly  tem- 
perate. The  public  expect  and  have  a  right  to  de- 
mand, for  the  sake  of  safety  if  nothing  else,  the  most 
scrupulous  adherence  on  the  part  of  directors  to  the 
principles  of  temperance,  in  the  appointment  of  their 
agents.  This  will  inspire  confidence  in  the  traveling 
community,  and  secure  patronage  ;  and  if  no  higher 
motive  actuates,  its  mfluence  will  be  good,  at  least 
upon  a  large  class  of  persons  necessarily  connected 
with  such  an  establishment. 

But  it  is  in  the  power  of  directors — and  that 
power  can  be  easily  exercised,  especially  at  the  first 
start  of  a  rail-road — to  extend  the  healthful  influ- 
ence of  temperance,  along  the  whole  line;  —  opera- 
ting benignly  upon  the  population  at  large,  through 
which  it  passes.  They  can  and  ought  to  control  the 
eating-houses  and  depots  maintained  for  its  accom- 
modation ;  and  if  this  be  so,  the  prohibited  use  of 
intoxicating  liquor  m  them,  by  its  example,  will  do 
good  to  the  whole  state.  If  this  wise  and  practica- 
ble measure  be  adopted,  as  it  has  been  on  some  other 
roads,  and  with  entire  success,  it  can  readily  be  seen 
how  powerfully  it  will  aid  the  cause  of  temperance. 
For  years  past,  one  prolific  source  of  intemperance, 
has  been  the  taverns  and  grog-shops  upon  our  great 
thoroughfares.      Pei-sons   who  drank  but  little  at 


26 

home,  under  the  excitement  or  fatigue  of  traveling, 
have  thought  it  pleasant  if  not  necessary  to  indulge 
in  the  intoxicating  cup,  especially  where  none  but 
strangers  could  be  witnesses  to  their  delinquency.  As 
these  sources  will  in  a  great  degree  cease  to  corrupt, 
if  others  are  not  opened  on  the  I'ail-road,  incalcula- 
ble good  will  result  to  the  public.  May  we  not  hope 
that  the  noble  stand  will  be  taken  and  maintained, 
and  that  our  rail-way,  so  big  with  promise  to  other 
interests,  will  apply  its  mighty  fires  and  forces  to  dry 
up  the  poisonous  fountains  of  intemperance?  It 
will  be  an  achievement  worthy  of  the  age.  It  will 
reflect  honor  upon  our  State.  Its  example  will  teU 
upon  other  rail-roads  and  upon  the  nation.  In  a  few 
years,  it  will  save  money  enom'h  to  repay  the  build- 
ing of  the  road.  It  will  scatter  unnumbered  bless- 
ings of  contentment,  peace,  prosperity,  and  religion 
over  our  great  commonwealth  ! 

Let  me,  in  conclusion,  recall  your  minds  to  the 
thought  already  suggested ;  that  the  hand  of  the 
Almighty  is  concei-ned  in  the  vast  system  of  rail- 
roads. Id  their  construction,  the  object  of  man  may 
be  commerce,  convenience,  pleasure,  profit,  or  nation- 
al glory.  But  "my  thoughts  are  not  your  thoughts, 
neither  are  your  ways  my  ways,  saith  the  Lord.  For 
as  the  heavens  are  higher  than  the  earth,  so  are  my 
ways  higher  than  your  ways,  and  my  thoughts  than 
yom-  thoughts."     What  God  intends  to  accomplish. 


27 

we  are  incompetent  fully  to  determine ;  but  we  may 
rest  assured,  that  he  has  some  great  and  glorious 
object  in  view,  and  will  make  man's  agency  in  this 
earthly  enterprise  instrumental  in  bringing  it  about. 
Do  you  think  it  derogatory  to  Him  who  creates 
worlds  and  guides  them  in  their  orbits,  to  have  any 
tiling  to  do  with  rail-roads  ?     Or,  tlo  you  adopt  the 
Epicurean  theory,  revived  by  the  author  of  "Vesti- 
ges of  Creation" — a  work   replete  with  palpable 
and  enormous  blunders — a  work  based  on  the  prin- 
ciple, that  God,  after  creating  the  world,  left  it  to 
take  care  of  itself,  and  retired  into  the  bosom  of 
eternity  ?     Revelation  forbids  the  thought.    Reason 
forbids  it.   The  presence  and  action  of  universal  laws 
forbid  it.    Look  at  the  wisdom,  order  and  harmony 
of  these  laws.    Look  at  their  unity,  and  in  that  uni- 
ty, see  the  agency  of  one  Infinite  Mind  upholding 
and  governing  all.     Or  do  you  take  another  view  of 
the  subject  less  revolting  to  the  Christian  mind?  Is 
God  in  nature,  but  not  in  its  movements  and  evolu- 
tions ?     Is  he  in  matter,  but  not  in  the  mind  that 
moulds  it  ?     Is  he  in  the  stars,  but  not  in  the  tele, 
scope,  nor  in  the  mechanic  that  made  it  ?     Is  he  in 
the  bow  in  the  cloud,  but  not  in  the  beautifid  me- 
chanism of  the  eye  that  looks  upon  it  ?     And  is  he 
in  the  fires  of  Etna,  and  not  in  the  locomotive  ?    Give 
me  the  philosophy  of  David,   rather  than  that  of 
Laplace.     "  O  Lord,  how  manifold  are  thy  works ! 
in  wisdom  hast  thou  made  them  all."     David  looked 


2:8 

up  only  to  adore.  Laplace  never  woreliipped.  Da- 
vid saw  God  everywhere.  His  boundless  glory  filled 
the  universe.  Laplace  looked  into  the.  temj^le  of 
omnipotence  to  scrutinise  the  principles  of  its  struc- 
ture, but  saw  nothing  of  "  its  Builder  and  Maker 
who  is  God."  Let  us  not  be  equally  blind,  unbe- 
lieving or  irreverent.  Let  us  not  say,  God  is  a  spirit, 
infinite,  omnicient,  omnipresent ;  and  yet  deny  him 
an  agency  in  those  mechanical  forces  destined  to 
change  the  face  of  the  world.  Rather  let  us  love 
and  adore.  Let  us  rejoice  in  the  truth,  that  God 
reigns  and  "  doeth  his  j)leasure  in  the  armies  of  hea- 
ven, and  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth." 

It  is  this  view  of  the  subject  which  I  love  to  con- 
template ;  and  it  is  because  deeply  impressed  with 
this  view  of  it,  that  it  is  in  my  heart  to  congratulate 
the  President  and  Directors,  and  my  fellow  citizens 
generally,  on  the  completion  of  the  first  railway 
connecting  Cleveland  with  the  Capital,  and  with  a 
great  inland  city  upon  the  beautiful  banks  of  the 
Ohio.  I  feel  it  to  be  a  noble  achievement — worthy 
our  state — worthy  the  age ;  and  while  I  praise  God, 
who  has  furnished  the  men  and  the  means,  the  skill 
and  the  talent,  to  carry  it  forward,  amidst  toils  and 
difilculties,  to  a  successful  termination ;  I  must  not 
forget  to  mention  the  only  drawback  upon  om'  re- 
joicings. 

In  the  prosecution  of  the  work  there  was  one,  who 
from  its  commencement  has  sustained  a  high  and 


29 

honorable  part  in  it.  Of  h\^  forecast,  integrity,  me- 
chanical skill,  incessant  toil  and  uncompromising 
energy  and  perseverence,  I  need  not  speak.  In  con- 
nection witli  this  road,  the  name  of  Harbach  will 
long  live  in  our  affectionate  remembrance.  Strange, 
that  just  as  it  was  completed,  he  should  drop  into 
the  tomb !  But  we  know  that  active  mind  lives,  and 
is  active  still ;  and  who  can  tell  the  interest  it  may 
now  take,  viewing  events  in  the  clear  light  of  eter- 
nity—  in  the  wondei-fal  developements  connected 
with  his  short  but  useful  career ! 

"  God  moves  in  a  mysterious  way, 
His  wonders  to  perform." 

Those  most  useful  —  whose  services  to  the  world 
seem  indispensable,  are  often,  as  was  our  friend,  sud- 
denly called  away.  Let  the  dispensation,  mournful 
to  us  all,  and  espscially  to  the  bereaved  partner  and 
family,  with  whom  we  deeply  sympathize,  teach  us, 
that  in  the  midst  of  life  we  are  in  death ;  —  that  life 
is  only  good  and  great  as  it  works  out  the  problem 
of  a  higher  destiny,  in  the  realization  of  a  blessed 
hope  of  immortality  through  Jesus  Christ. 

My  Friends,  the  stirring  scenes  through  which  we 
are  passing — the  movements  of  which  we  are  spec- 
tators, and  in  which  we  are  actors,  are  great  to  us. 
And,  indeed,  connected  with  the  progress  of  our 
race,  and  with  the  destiny  of  our  country  and  world, 
they  are  great  in  reality.  But  another  existence  is 
before  us.     Other  scenes  are  yet  to  open — scenes 


30 

of  still  deeper  interest  —  vastly  different  in  their 
nature — of  a  higher  order — spiritual,  eternal;  and 
we  are  all  approaching  them  in  the  great  rail-car  of 
time,  with  a  speed  more  rapid  than  lightning — 
more  irresistible  than  chariots  of  fire. 

God  grant,  that  through  infinite  mercy  in  Jesus 
Christ,  we  may  be  faithful  in  our  day  and  generation 
—  hve  to  some  valuable  purpose  —  that  when  we 
reach  the  great  depot  of  our  earthly  existence,  and 
go  out  of  this  tabernacle,  we  may  enter  into  the 
building  of  God  —  "x\n  house  not  made  with  hands, 
eternal  in  the  heavens." 


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ILUNOIS-UBBANA 


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